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Kentucky is often called
a "basketball state" in conversations and writings about sports.
Basketball, is indeed quite popular in the Bluegrass State. However,
internationally the sport most associated with the state is horse racing
and our best known, (world-wide), sports figures include two former
Olympians, (Muhammad Ali and Mary Meagher), and a hall of fame baseball
player, Pee Wee Reese.
Born in Louisville,
Kentucky on January 17, 1942, as Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr., Muhammad
Ali first made his mark on the world stage in Rome, during the 1960
Olympics, where he won a gold medal in boxing. Ali would go on to win
numerous matches and world titles and become, arguably, the best
known boxer in the world.
The Muhammad Ali Center in
downtown Louisville
opened in November of 2005. The center promotes the core values that Ali
has shaped his life around, including personal responsibility and dignity,
and peace and spirituality. Muhammad Ali continues to be a goodwill
ambassador for the state and the nation. |
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